Around 17 percent of South Korean women experienced a career break following their marriage this year, with child-rearing among the top reasons, official government data showed.

The number of women aged 15-54 who had stopped working after marriage had come to 1.39 million as of April, slightly down from 1.44 million tallied a year earlier, according to data from Statistics Korea.

The decrease came in line with a fall in marriages in South Korea. The number of married women in the age group came to 8.1 million in April, down 2.6 percent from 8.32 million tallied in 2021.

Many young South Koreans have been opting to distance themselves from marriage amid high housing prices and other economic challenges. (Yonhap)